Ag commissioner Sid Miller doled out $410k in bonuses in first 9 months

Bonuses came at same time as sharp fee increases

New Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller talks about the state's plans to repeal a decade-old ban on deep fryers in public school kitchens, Thursday, June 18, 2015, in Austin, Texas. Miller is also lifting restrictions on soft drinks in school vending machines. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

New Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller talks about the...

AUSTIN - Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a first-term Republican who campaigned as an uncompromising conservative, gave out more bonuses to agency employees in his first nine months in office than his predecessor awarded in his first two and a half years on the job, according to an analysis of personnel data.

Miller doled out $413,700 in one-time cash rewards to 144 employees between January and September - the most of any statewide elected official in that time, and more than the total given by Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Comptroller Glenn Hegar combined, according to the Houston Chronicle data analysis.

Miller's predecessor, Todd Staples, gave $161,800 in bonuses during his first nine months and $369,300 overall in his first 2½ years.

Most of Miller's bonuses were handed out in September - the same month he announced he was sharply raising fees on farmers, grocery stores and others, sparking surprise and anger among some state lawmakers. The fees are set to take effect Jan. 1.

Like all agency heads, Miller has discretion to award bonuses out of his general budget.

Miller declined an interview request. His office issued a statement saying the bonuses "have nothing to do with" the fees, noting that lawmakers this year limited the commissioner's ability to transfer funds between different parts of agency.

Government watchdogs criticized the bonuses as inappropriate, however, especially because of Miller's public position that he was forced to double or otherwise dramatically raise some fees for licenses, registrations and other services by about $20 million after lawmakers underfunded his agency.

"I'm a fiscal hawk. The last thing I want to do is raise anybody's fees, but I'm out of options here," Miller told the Senate Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs Committee last week, saying "the chickens have come home to roost" after steep budget cuts in 2011. "I'm pretty much, as the saying goes, hog-tied."

Melissa Cubria, a spokeswoman for the Texas Public Interest Research Group, an Austin-based consumer advocacy organization group, said that statement appears disingenuous in light of the bonuses.

Cubria also raised another question: How could Miller even determine who deserved a bonus after just a few months on the job?

"Before he asks taxpayers for a $20 million bailout, Commissioner Miller must come clean about the staggering number of bonuses he dished out to agency employees after just eight months on the job," she said. "He must disclose the criteria he used to determine that agency employees deserved a bonus even though, as Miller himself described, his agency is hemorrhaging money."

Bonus points

144 Texas Department of Agriculture staffers received bonuses

The total amount paid: $413,700

12 employees received bonuses of $4,000

5 employees received $3,500

67 employees received more than $3,000, but less than $3,500

Source: Texas Comptroller's Office

Miller, a rancher and former state representative from Stephenville in Erath County, took office in January after coasting to victory last November over a Democrat who did not campaign.

In addition to the fee increases, the commissioner also already has drawn criticism for bombastic posts on social media and an effort to return cupcakes and deep fryers to school lunchrooms. The Chronicle reported this fall that he skirted state law by hiring nine people for jobs that were not advertised to the public, including four newly created positions of "assistant commissioner," each paying $180,000 per year.

One of the staffers hired without a job posting, Diana Warner, who makes a $135,000 annual salary as the agency's chief financial officer, is among those who earned bonuses. Warner, a former aide to close Miller confidant, was given $2,900 on Sept. 3, records show.

The other bonuses ranged from $1,250 to $4,000. The average was $2,873, nearly twice the average bonus given to Texas state employees over the past decade, according to the analysis of tens of thousands of records.

The bonuses given by Staples, a fellow Republican, averaged $1,310 in his first year and about $2,000 over his eight-year tenure.

Overall, Miller rewarded nearly a quarter of the roughly 600 employees at his agency.

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This year, no other statewide elected official has come close to equaling Miller's bonuses in the first nine months of the year - the only time for which records were available. Paxton and Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush each handed out about $235,000 in one-time gifts during that period, while Hegar has doled out some $162,000, records show.

Abbott did not give out any bonuses.

State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, the vice chair of the Senate Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs Committee, said she did not understand how Miller could claim he had no money when he was giving out bonuses.